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The access to the contents of this doctoral thesis it is limited to the acceptance of the use conditions set by the following Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/?lang=en Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Departament de Traducció i d’Interpretació Doctorat “Traducció i Estudis Interculturals” Easy audiovisual content for all: Easy-to-Read as an enabler of easy, multimode access services Doctoral Thesis Author: Rocío Bernabé Caro Supervisors: Dr Pilar Orero and Dr Estella Oncins Barcelona, May, 30th 2020 Acknowledgements Writing this doctoral thesis has been a long and interesting journey. The outcome would not have been possible without the unconditional support of my husband, my children, Elena and Pablo, and the person who took a chance on me, Pilar Orero. 2 Table of contents Chapter 1. Introduction 7 1 PhD structure 12 2 Research question, objectives, and hypothesis 15 3 Theoretical framework 17 3.1 Cognitive text simplification 18 3.2 Text simplification and audiovisual translation 21 4 Methodology 26 Chapter 2. Article 1. Easy to Read as Multimode Accessibility Service 30 1 Accessibility: modes, modalities, and services 31 2 Accessibility services 32 2.1 Content Creation 32 2.2 Content Management 33 2.3 Some Accessibility Services 33 3 Easy to Read 35 3.1 Easy to Read as Accessibility Service 36 3.2 Linguistic Features of Easy to Read 37 3.3 Easy to Read Paratextual Features 39 3.4 Easy to Read Guidelines 41 4 Easy to read as a multiservice enabler 42 5 Conclusions 44 6 References 45 Chapter 3. Article 2. Easier audio description: Exploring the potential of Easy-to- Read principles in simplifying AD 49 1 Introduction 50 2 Audio description audiences and functions 51 3 The two departing points for easier audio description 52 4 Easy-to-understand audio descriptions 58 4.1 Steps in the creation of an easier-to-understand audio description 58 First step 58 Second step 61 Third step 62 4.2 Language adaptation for Easy AD 63 3 5 Conclusion 65 6 References 66 Chapter 4. Article 3. New taxonomy of easy-to-understand access services 77 1 Introduction 78 2 Easy to understand meets Audiovisual Translation 79 2.1 Standard access services meet simplification methods 82 2.2 Semiotic composition of E2U access services 85 E2U nonverbal services 86 E2U verbal services 88 2.3 Conclusions 92 3 E2U access services meet WCAG 2.1 93 3.1 Improving cognitive accessibility in the accessibility chain 96 Easy-to-understand interaction throughout the service 97 Finding the service 97 Operating the service 97 Understanding 98 Robust 98 End-user participation 98 3.2 Conclusions 98 4 E2U audiovisual content meets validation 99 4.1 E2R-logo validation 100 4.2 PL validation 100 4.3 Compliance with E2U rules/recommendations 101 4.4 Non-validated services 101 5 Conclusions 101 6 References 102 Chapter 5. Article 4. Identifying parameters for creating Easy to Read subtitles 109 1 Introduction 110 2 Methodology 111 3 Results 111 3.1 Visual presentation 112 3.2 Presentation of subtitles: temporal aspects 115 3.3 Parameters for speaker identification 116 3.4 Sound effects 117 4 3.5 Contextual information and off-screen voice 118 3.6 Music and songs 119 3.7 Editorial criteria 120 3.8 Parameters for Easy to Read subtitles 122 4 Conclusions 123 5 References 124 Chapter 6. Article 5. Validation of Easy-to-read Subtitles 127 1 Introduction 128 2 End-user validation of Easy to Read content 129 3 Experiment 132 3.1 Data collection: validation SDH and E2R 132 3.2 Participants 134 3.3 Stimuli 136 4 Results 136 4.1 Non-editorial parameters 137 4.2 Editorial parameters 140 4.3 Global comprehension and user experience 142 5 Conclusions 143 6 References 144 Chapter 7. Summary 147 Chapter 8. Conclusions and further research avenues 149 1 Revisiting the research question and objectives 149 1.1 Article 1. Easy to Read as Multimode Accessibility Service 150 1.2 Article 2. Easier audio description: Exploring the potential of Easy-to-Read principles in simplifying AD 151 1.3 Article 3. New taxonomy of easy-to-understand access services 151 1.4 Article 4. Identifying parameters for creating Easy-to-Read subtitles 153 1.5 Article 5. Validation of Easy-to-read subtitles 154 2 Final remarks 154 3 Contributions to knowledge and limitations 155 4 Recommendations and future directions 157 Chapter 9. Updated references 160 5 List of tables and figures This dissertation is a compendium of five articles. In order to avoid changing the numbering of the tables and figures in the original articles, the same numbering has been kept, and the number of each chapter has been included. List of tables Table 1. Chapter 1. Definitions of the main concepts as understood in this thesis 24 Table 1. Chapter 4. Examples of nonverbal E2U access services 87 Table 2. Chapter 4. Classification parameters for E2U verbal access services 90 Table 3. Chapter 4. Examples of E2U verbal access services 90 Table 4. Chapter 4. Classification parameters for of E2U access services 91 Table 5. Chapter 4. E2U access services 92 Table 6. Chapter 4. E2U content validation 100 Table 1. Chapter 5. Overview of the results 112 Table 2. Chapter 5. Comparison of visual aspects 113 Table 3. Chapter 5. Temporal aspects 115 Table 4. Chapter 5. Speaker identification 116 Table 5. Chapter 5. Sound effects 117 Table 6. Chapter 5. Contextual information and background voice effects 119 Table 7. Chapter 5. Music and songs 120 Table 8. Chapter 5. Editorial criteria 121 Table 9. Chapter 5. Overview of shared parameters 122 Table 1. Chapter 6. Non-editorial features 138 Table 2. Chapter 6. Difficult expressions and vocabulary 141 List of figures Figure 1. Chapter 1. Hypothesis, research approach and type of conclusions. 28 Figure 1. Chapter 3. Example of text simplification 54 Figure 1. Chapter 4. Example of E2R intrasemiotic and intralingual subtitles 89 Figure 2. Chapter 4. HC accessibility chain of access services 95 Figure 1. Chapter 5. User-centric workflow for producing E2R subtitles 111 Figure 1. Chapter 6. Validation tasks for written texts 131 Figure 2. Chapter 6. Validation tasks for subtitles 132 Figure 3. Chapter 6. Shortened subtitled line 139 Figure 4. Chapter 6. Example of non-editorial parameters 140 Figure 5. Chapter 6. Human-centered accessibility chain of access services 153 6 Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 1. Introduction This PhD focuses on Easy-to-Read as an access service. The term Easy-to-Read has been written across the PhD in several ways. The main reason is the lack of consensus among experts, as revealed by the literature reviewed. Furthermore, the compound term Easy-to-Read is currently used with different functions and to express different yet related meanings. Firstly, Easy-to-Read is used as an adjective compound in English and is thus hyphenated or not according to its position (Aarts, 2010; Merriam-Webster, 2020). Secondly, Easy-to-Read is used as a compound noun to describe a text simplification method that includes a set of recommendations and guidelines to make content easier to read and understand (International Federation of Libraries Associations and Institutions [IFLA], 2010; Inclusion Europe, 2009; Saggion, 2017; Plena Inclusión Madrid, 2018). Finally, this compound noun is also found in the literature to describe a functional, regulated language variety (Bredel & Maaß, 2016). The issue is not new in audiovisual translation (AVT). The different spellings and functions of the compound ‘Hard-of-Hearing’ or ‘Hard of Hearing’, and of ‘voice-over’ and ‘voiceover’ are well-known examples. Given the fact that the articles in this PhD were published during a period of time that produced different writing and followed specific editorial rules, it is impossible at this stage to unify the writing across the text. For this reason, this PhD uses the form Easy-to-Read in Chapters 1, 7, and 8, in order to support reading and avoid ambiguity. ‘Less is more’ is a statement that we easily tend to agree with. However, ‘simple is more’ might be a better saying. Less becomes more when a speaker gets to the point quickly, but more is more when a teacher takes the time to explain things in detail to a student. So, what type of ‘less’ leads to ‘more’? Is it the number of words, the time invested, or the way a message is constructed? This PhD explores this question with regards to audiovisual content. By doing so, it studies how Easy-to-Read can be used to simplify audiovisual content to make it more accessible for people with reading and learning difficulties. 7 Chapter 1. Introduction The ability to participate and perform on an equal basis in our knowledge society is subject to the equal provision of accessible technology, content, and services for all (Greco, 2016). Indeed, offering accessible content is a statutory and societal need: Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression (UNGA, 1948). The declaration also specifies the right to seek, receive and share information and ideas through any media (e.g., printed, digital) and across frontiers (i.e., physical, technological).